beauty

Black Friday Super Deals

November 25, 2016 by Anne Sweet Leave a Comment

It’s Black Friday and love it or hate it there are always some great deals to be had.

I’ve been asked to share a few really good deals with you today.

Printerpix

PrinterPix Have some fantastic deals on site with up to 75% off, just think of the lovely Christmas gifts you can create! You can also purchase now and add your photos and create your products later, so it’s a great time to take part in this promotion.

Lakeland

Lakeland is one of my favourite shops so I’m thrilled that they have some lovely offers with 50% off! A big shout out to my future hubby or anyone wishing to buy me a wedding present tomorrow hehehe.

My Geek Box

My Geek Box have some fabulous offers for you.

Shop:

· 2 for £35 on Christmas Sweatshirts, or £19.99

· 10% off full price lego (selected lines)

· 3 for £20 construction kits

· 3 for £18 gifts

· Up to 80% off Tech

· 3 for £22 on Pop Vinyl

Subscriptions:

· £3 1st Lite Geek Box – Code: LITE3

· £10 1st Geek Box – Code: GEEK10

· £10 1st Kids Geek Box – Code: KIDS10

Claire’s

Claire’s are offering a fabulous 40% off so lots of lovely gifts to be had there, and don’t forget all those accessories for the Christmas parties.

Create and Craft

Maybe you like to make your own gifts? Create and Craft is a brilliant craft supplies shop and they too have some fabulous Black Friday Offers.

I really hope you enjoy these offers that I have shared with you, it would be great if you let me know of your fab buys in the comments.

The links provided in this post are all affiliate links and will bring me a little bit of profit if you use them. Feel free to check out the site separately if you don’t wish to use affiliate links. If you do, then thank you.

Getting to Grips with Beauty Products with My Own Personal Beauty Shopper

June 27, 2014 by Anne Sweet 7 Comments

Now I will be the first to admit I’m a bit of a sticker with make-up and have been using the same brands for years. I was an Avon Representative for a long time before I moved house (I still miss my regular customers) so a lot of the products I use are from Avon. When it comes to trying something new, I just don’t know where to start.

I had to the chance to meet Rose, a personal beauty shopper at Selfridges Birmingham. Selfridges is the iconic building which is part of the Birmingham Bull Ring Shopping Centre.

I’m a big fan of the food hall there, it’s truly amazing, you can even buy jars of Fluff! My favourite place of all is Yo Sushi where I started my trip with lunch from there with my Eldest Daughter.

Then I went to meet Rose, and start finding about what beauty products were on offer. Rose is lovely, she instantly makes you feel comfortable and is so bubbly and friendly as well as beautiful. She asked me what I would like to try first and told her about how I never seem to be able to get my foundation right. I don’t like to feel my foundation it has to be as light as moisturiser and the tone has to match my skin. She took me over to Giorgio Armani where I tried the maestro in 5.5. I was instantly impressed, it felt so light that it was barely noticable, but the cover was really nice and even. If there was just one thing I wanted to purchase it was this. Rose asked for a sample for me to take me home so I could make up my mind in my own time. I did not feel pressured at all throughout my entire time there to make a purchase which was really nice.

Next up was blusher and Rose showed me her favourite brand Clinique Cheek Pop. I chose the Plum Pot which looked quite dark to what I would usually use, but as Rose showed me, it was actually quite light and if you wish you could add a little more to make it darker.

Then we popped over to Estee Lauder for some lipstick. I chose Pure Colour lipstick in Dominant which again looked quite dark, but it was lovely once on. It also felt really rich and creamy and lasted well too. We also had a little try of some of the fragrances from Estee Lauder, my favourite has always been beautiful, but I also like Modern Muse and Bronze Goddess.

Next it was time for the eyes. As an older woman I do tend to suffer from baggy eyelids and dark undereye circles, but I also have very round eyes and have never really known how to make the most of them. At Bobbi Browns you can go in for free make-up lessons like Party Makeup, Classic or Smokey Eyes or even Bridal Beauty. The lovely Tharanseet gave me some lovely natural looking eyes and some great tips on how to make my eyes look more open. She did a great job of concealing my dark undereye circles, so much so that my daughter was really impressed (And believe me it takes a lot to impress her!)

At the end of the day I came away with a really nice make-over, done just the way I asked. A real natural look that didn’t feel caked on. I was really pleased and would definitely recommend Rose to anyone.

You can contact her for an appointment at rose.gallagher@selfridges.co.uk. It costs £30 which is redeemable against any products you may wish to buy. You can also find Rose on Twitter at @MixedGemsBeauty

The advantages of having a personal shopper are that you have loads of advice about products you may of not used before, you have someone who knows exactly where everything is and knows who to speak to at each store, you have the opportunity to try lots of different products to discover which is best for you and you are never under any pressure to buy.

I was given my Personal Shopper experience for free but I was not pressured into writing about it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Saaf Skincare Review

May 27, 2013 by Anne Sweet 2 Comments

I was offered the opportunity to review a product from Saaf Skincare and after looking through the site I chose the Super Hydrating Body Balm.

For the past two years I’ve had really dry, flaky and itchy skin on my arms. It became so bad that I was scratching throughout the night and waking up with sores and scabs all over my arms. Last summer I did not wear short sleeves and I was expecting the same this year. I’ve been to the doctor and was prescribed steroid cream which helped a lot, but because of it’s nature it can only be used for seven days then you have to take a break. So, although it was effective for a while it didn’t help long term. In-between I’ve been using a BP cream, which doesn’t really help much and is very greasy.

After reading about the Super Hydrating Body Balm from Saaf I thought that it may be the product to help me. The ingredients are: Safflower oil, sesame oil, beeswax, shae butter and black seed oil. Ylang ylang, patchouli, lavender and clove essential oils are added for their softening effect and fragrance.

It claims to provide care to prematurely ageing skin, to soothe and repair skin and to hydrate and restore suppleness.

The packaging is very classic looking, you get a mostly white box with a green stripe and a beige stripe. The logo is in gold and their is a gold trim around the inner jar giving it a luxurious look. The jar holds 150g of balm which is a fair amount for the cost.

The first thing I noticed on opening the jar was that the balm was solid, not a cream, this is because of the beeswax. The second thing I noticed was the smell, the essential oils were quite strong and I did worry that they may be a little too strong. It was a nice smell but I usually go for products with little or no smell, I don’t like things to smell like perfume. Once applied, however, the smell is much less noticeable and is really pleasant and soothing.

The balm is easy to apply, although at first you may want to warm your hands a little to melt the beeswax. It sinks into the skin beautifully and leaves behind no lasting residue, just a soft silkiness and a delicate smell. I have used the balm on my arms only so far but it is meant to be used all over, paying particular attention to especially dry areas like elbows and knees.

Saaf skincare is very pure and made with natural organic ingredients and no alcohol, fragrance or chemicals. Even the name Saaf is persian for pure. They sell products for the face, body and haircare.

I love beeswax products so as soon as I opened my balm I was happy. I was worried about the strong smell, but it did fade a little once applied, and it was actually an nice smell of essential oils which have a relaxing therapeutic effect. I found the balm easy to apply and it was not greasy but left me with a soft silky feeling. I noticed straight away that it calmed the poorly skin on my arms and the itching fading dramatically after just a couple of uses. Two weeks on and I am happy to report that I have not been scratching and I have no scabs or sores on my arms. My skin is softer, in fact my elbows are the softest they’ve been in many years. My skin feels soothed and supple rather than dry, flaky and itchy. I still have the scars from before but I am hoping they too will fade in time. I will wear short sleeves this summer and hopefully a little sun will darken my arms and make the scars less noticeable. It is such a relief not to be itching all the time, even my family have commented on my lack of scratching my arms. I am so happy that I had the chance to review this product, I would recommend it to anyone with dry, itchy skin.